Human Touch
by AkureiGX
Summary: A tale of life in the After War world. This is a Fic based on the anime After War: Gundam X.
1. Preview

**Title:** Human Touch  
**Source:** After War: Gundam X   
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam X or any of it's characters.   
**Brief description:** This is a preview of a much longer story I'm writing, actually, it's more like a novel then a fic lol. It's focus is on life in the After War world.

It was a quiet morning for once, the Freeden had managed to stay out of sight of the New Earth Federation's forces. This allowed the gundams to get much needed repairs and the crew to get some much needed rest. Tifa was in her room starting out into space as she had often done when she was bored. She felt drawn to space, though she didn't quite know why. It was almost as though something...or someone, was calling out to her. Her trance was broken by Garrod's voice coming from outside her room. But when she opened the door he was gone. She walked down the halls until she got to the mobile suit bay where Garrod, Witz and Roabie were. They all seemed preoccupied with getting their torn up gundams back up and running before they were under attack again. She wanted to go up to them, to talk or just stand their as long as she wasn't alone but she just couldn't do it. She felt it was her fault that the Freeden was being pursued in the first place. It was HER the Federation was after, if she wasn't a newtype then none of this would be happening and none of them would be in danger. 

Her entire life was cursed with the ability to foresee the future, or rather possible futures. Her only source of comfort was in that ever since meeting Garrod, her darker visions hadn't come true. Somehow he always managed to get out of danger in one piece. She started walking toward the bridge where the only other person who could understand her would be. Captain Jammil Neate, also a newtype was having a meeting with the rest of the crew. As soon as Tifa approached she could feel the worry in the room. Everyone felt that their days were numbered, all but Jammil. As always she couldn't sense his thoughts, he was always able to shield his mind, not just from telepathy but also body language and any other way a person could tell how one might be feeling. Keeping secrets, that had become a very important skill for survival in this world.

It had been 15 years since the 7th Earth/Space war..... the final war. The war in which one colony's struggle for independence turned into an all out battle between the Earth Federation and the Space Revolutionary Army. The Colonies ultimate ace in the hole was the threat of a colony drop if the Earth did not surrender. In response to this the Earth counter attacked with it's mass produced gundams. At the front line was the most powerful of the 3 models the GX-9900 Gundam X. The battled raged on and after a while they lost all meaning. No one could remember why they were fighting, they only possessed the bitter feelings passed on from one generation to the next. Finally the colonies, feeling they had no further choice, used their trump card. As masses of colonies fell toward Earth the line of GXs powered up their ultimate weapon, the satellite cannon. Powered by a microwave beam sent from the Moon's Lunar base, a single cannon could wipe out an entire colony in one shot. A glow filled the area as they reached full power. Everything came down to this. Life or death, survival or extinction. With all of Earth counting on them, the pilots fired their cannons at the incoming colonies. Several exploded in brilliant, yet horrible flashes of light, fire and debris. As some exploded, more kept coming until it was too late. The few people that had lived through the battles watched in horror as mass colonies fell to the Earth and the homeworld of all humanity was plunged into darkness.......to be continued.

OK this should pretty much set the stage and background info for the next chapters, hope you liked it. ^_~

~Akurei_GX


	2. Memories

**Title:** Human Touch  
**Chapter 2:** Memories  
**Source:** After War: Gundam X   
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam X or any of it's characters.   
**Brief description:** The second chapter, this is actually where the story starts.   
**URL:** go here for pics and info on the character and Mecha of this story.  
[http://www.akurei.50megs.com/mecha/index.html ][1]  
**Author's notes:** I chose the title of this fic when listening to the 1st ending song to Gundam X "Human Touch". Since this story was based on the human struggle for survival and the need for contact in ones life, it seemed appropriate.

It had been 5 days since the last battle. A vacation as far as the Freeden's crew was concerned. It had been getting colder the past few days, and that always seemed to bring out the worst memories. After the mass colony drop there was a nuclear winter that covered the Earth in cold darkness for several years. It was only a couple years ago that spring returned, but for Garrod it was his whole life. His father died during the war, most of his friends died during the long winter and the rest along with his mother died in the spring when his village was raided by rouge mobile suit pilots. It was a fact that the war was over, but the individual wars have not ended. To this day pointless conflicts and battles still plague the Earth.

Some members of the crew sat watching light flurries begin to fall. It was always something that worried people, they always wondered if this time the snow wouldn't stop, as it did for so many years. Kid saw with the others taking a rest of all the work he had been doing on the gundams. So far Airmaster was back up and running but GX and Leopard still needed more work done. It was quiet a strain on the 12 year old but he was the only one that could get the job done in such a short amount of time.

The Captain came to the decision that it would be best to keep heading north toward the mountains, they would have better cover there. With any luck they might run into other Vulture ships and get more repairs done. Jammil walked down the halls and corridors of the Freeden thinking of how the large land battleship had seen better days. Soon after the winter ended the water level was still very low. Many naval ports had lots of ships now stranded on land. The Vultures, who took every chance to survive converted these ships so that they could move on land. Jammil could remember the day he first saw the Freeden. It was a cold day, much like today. Some Federal forces that were still in the area were hunting him and his small band down for the theft of some weapons. At that time he was so eager to keep his people safe. He managed to hide them all in an ship that had been washed ashore and abandoned for many years. They were all so young at the time, orphaned by the war and it's after effects, orphaned by HIS war. He was one of the Gundam X pilots, one of the only ones that lived through the war. He never wanted anyone to know he was involved with that, the most terrible tragedy in human history.

Witz and Roabie, the two gundam pilots hired by Jammil pretty much kept to themselves at times like this. They didn't really think of themselves are part of the crew, mostly since they were freelancers. Though they had been working for Jammil for quite a while now. Witz was off trying to kill boredom with sleep while Roabie was hitting on every female crew member.

Tifa, still alone, was trying to think of someway to help everyone. They had all been fighting so hard to keep her safe. Her past was a mystery even to herself. Why were they so determined to keep her away from the Federation? And for that matter, why did the New Earth Federation want her for? All she knew was it had something to do with her abilities. She knew Jammil was a newtype as well and perhaps that is why he was protective of her. The others are just following his orders....except for Garrod. Even with her empathic abilities she wasn't sure why he was so protective of her. As she looked outside the falling snow reminded her of the first time she could recall being in the Federation's custody. She was locked away in some lab and spent each day being studied and examined. The process of creating artificial newtypes was lost during the war. It was believed that studying a living newtype would unlock the answers to replicating them. Whatever the reason, the thoughts of her past made her shiver. As she was about to enter her room a sudden feeling of dread overtook her. She nearly fell as images of a battle flooded her mind. In her thoughts she could see the Freeden destroyed and Gundam Airmaster falling from the sky. As soon as she could regain her composer she ran as fast as she could to tell someone what she saw. 

As she was about to enter the bridge a sudden explosion from outside caused her to fall. The entire ship shook with the force of the impact. "Report!" yelled Jammil as the crew scrambled to figure out what happened. "Mobile suits detected, incoming from the mountains. Suits confirmed, Gundam Virsago and Ashtaron." replied one of the crew. "The Frost brothers" Jammil thought to himself. "What is the status of the gundams?" Kid's voice could be heard over the intercom, "Airmaster is 98% repaired but the others aren't combat ready yet." Without order or hesitation Witz shot out of the ship in Airmaster. There were still some light cracks in the armor but otherwise it was fine. Passing the Freeden Witz could see the flaming hole produced by the megasonic cannon housed in Virsago's torso. This would be no easy battle, the Frost brothers were virtually unbeatable when working together. Their ability to read each other's thoughts gave them a great tactical advantage over any opponent. They also had the reputation of defeating every gundam pilot they had ever faced with the one exception of Garrod.

As the gundams fought Tifa could only watch and fear that her latest vision was coming to life. It was believed that the brothers were working for the Federation but their true motives were never known. It took about six crew members to hold Garrod back as he tried to get into Gundam X. After punching out two of them, he himself was punched out by Roabie, "There is nothing we can do now" he said calmly. Airmaster dodged the two enemy suits as they double teamed him. Ashtaron attempted to clamp onto Airmaster with it's scissor arm but missed as the variable mobile suit changed into fighter mode and took to the sky. Witz brought Airmaster around for an attack but only one of the gundams could be seen. Suddenly we felt a major jolt as Virsago dug it's dragon claws into one of Airmaster's wings, causing it's armor to rip up even more.

The gundam slammed into the ground and crew gasped at the sight, hoping the pilot was still alive. Through all the fighting no one had noticed that Tifa had left the battleship. Not until Jammil caught a glimpse of her walking on the battlefield. Virsago dug it's claws into the ground to brace itself for another shot of it's megasonic cannon. The two gundams stopped when they noticed the girl walking toward them. To many had suffered for her. She was determined to not let her vision of the Freeden's destruction come true. The only thing she could think to do to save her friends was to surrender herself.

. . . . . .to be continued

~Akurei_GX

   [1]: http://www.akurei.50megs.com/mecha/index.html



	3. Target Acquired

**Title:** Human Touch  
**Chapter 3:** Target Acquired  
**Source:** After War: Gundam X   
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam X or any of it's characters.   
**Brief description:** Ah the plot thickens ^_^. . . . . or thins. . . . you decided lol  
**URL:** go here for pics and info on the character and Mecha of this story.  
[http://www.akurei.50megs.com/mecha/index.html ][1]  
**Author's notes:** I just added pics of more cast members and mecha for everyone to see. Now for those that haven't seen the series you can see what everyone looks like ^_^.

Witz awoke quite painfully in the infirmary. He had his right arm in a sling and his ribs were bandaged. In the bed across from him was Garrod with his head bandaged and fighting with the doctor to let him go. A nurse sat beside the bad and started to fill him in on what happened after he blacked out. Witz had been out cold for almost a week. In that time The Freeden's crew had been contacting every Vulture group in range asking for any information on the location of the two gundams Virsago and Ashtaron. They even contacted some of the lesser trustworthy information brokers, people who made their living in the AW world by selling info and secrets. For the past few days Garrod had kept trying to take one of the gundams and go after her, but each time he was restrained, this last attempt put him in the infirmary. Garrod's shouting was giving Witz and even bigger headache until he finally threw a nearby bowl at Garrod's head. As soon as he was out cold, the nurse continued with her story. . . 

~Flash back~

Tifa walked right up to Virsago, it's megasonic cannon still charged and ready to fire. Shagia, the older Frost brother and pilot of Virsago looked down at her with a smirk. He retracted the dragon claws and deactivated the cannon. "Surrender acknowledged" he said coldly. As Olba Frost in Ashtaron kept an eye on the Freeden Virsago's arm reached down to Tifa and picked her up. Meanwhile the crew of the Freeden could only watch helplessly. The battleship's arsenal had been completely used up in the many battles they have been in recently and the gundams were still unable to fight. As soon as both gundams had shot into the sky and were out of sight the whole crew ran out to the downed Airmaster to check on the pilot. After prying the hatch open they pulled out Witz, he had a broken arm and cracked ribs, but otherwise wasn't too badly injured.

Kid looked up at the wrecked gundam they just pulled in. The sight of it almost made him breakdown, five straight days of work, down the drain. Nearly all the armor would have to be replaced and lunar titanium wasn't easy to come by these days. Not to mention the various damaged systems and it's smashed up left hand which is landed on when it fell. "BAKAYARO! Why did you have to go and do something stupid like this?!" After calming down he started to do more work on GX and Leopard. As he walked over to the suits he noticed guards once again pulling Garrod out of the engineering bay. "He doesn't give up" Kid thought to himself.

~End flash back

Witz sat back while trying to take it all in. He was told that for the 5 days he was out, that the Freeden had met with other ships and were able to get most of the repairs done as well as restock on weapons and supplies. Right now the main focus was on finding a way to get Tifa back. Another ship, that also had a grudge to settle with the Feds joined with them as part of a plan to attack the Northern military base where they believed her to be held. Now it was simply a matter of time before they were in shape to go on with their plans.

Tifa awoke in an unsettlingly familiar environment. She was on a bed, surrounded by various devices and medical equipment. There were four people in lab coats and two guards at the door. As she tired to get up she was held back by restraints on her wrists and ankles. One of the people in white coats came up to her and placed a large dome-like device over her head, "Just relax and you won't feel a thing" he said. It was the same as before, or at least all she could recall from before she was on the Freeden, tests and more tests. In another room a group of older men in military uniforms observed the tests. "She could be the one we've been looking for. An actually living newtype" one said. Another snorted and replied "Thats what you said about the last one." A third took a deep inhale of his cigar, "If the Vultures want her this badly then she must have some ability. It has been confirmed they are in possession of 3 old newtype gundams. Perhaps they have discovered surviving mobile bits* as well." Yet another stood up and said "Either way we'll find out soon enough. The new large mobile armor* the MAN-003 Patuura is almost complete. We'll see if she really can control it."

. . . . to be continued

~Akurei_GX

*Mobile Bits - unmanned mobile suits that are telepathically remote controlled by a newtype pilot, the newtype's suit must be equipped with the "Flash system" in order for this to work and the pilot must be a newtype.

*Mobile Armor - the name given to large mobile weapons that are NOT humanoid as mobile suits are, meaning, no arms, legs and such, they often take the form of large attack vehicle or ships.

   [1]: http://www.akurei.50megs.com/mecha/index.html



	4. The Power of a Newtype

**Title:** Human Touch  
**Chapter 4:** The power of a newtype  
**Source:** After War: Gundam X   
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam X or any of it's characters.   
**Brief description:** After 15 years the destructive power of a newtype is revived  
**URL:** go here for pics and info on the character and Mecha of this story.  
[http://www.akurei.50megs.com/mecha/index.html ][1]  
**Author's notes:** I could really use some help from fellow GX fans out there. I have seen a few scattered episodes throughout the series but I lack detailed info on the cast. If anyone knows of a site I can use to gather info please let me know.

Vulture, the name given to the people who scrapped what was left of the military bases and life off selling parts and supplies to others. They are rightfully named since they live like vultures, scavenging for treasurers left from the past. No one really knows what motivates them or their agenda. This couldn't be more true of the Freeden and her captain, after hearing of Tifa he spent all his time tracking her until he was finally able to take her from the Alternative Company, a business that survived the war and was closely connected with the Earth Federation. It was in taking her that Garrod got mixed up in all this, originally sent to take her from the Freeden he realized he was hired by someone that Tifa didn't want to go with. Someone apparently from her past, he made a snap decision to get her away from them but eventually ended up back with the Freeden after seeing that it's captain was trying to help her.

"Brain scans all show normal," said one of the scientists that was studying Tifa. "Looks like this might work" another said. "It had better, they want results and she isn't going to help us so if this doesn't work it's over" said yet another. Tifa was no longer in the same room. She had been moved to some weird looking chamber and was still restrained, this time in a tube like device similar to the large scanner they had used once before. But this time something new had been added, to ensure their new 'weapon' would function properly. "As soon as the system is activated, her thoughts should be somewhat repressed, enough for us to input orders and have her follow them" said the lead doctor.

"Target sighted" said Toniya, a member of Freeden's bridge crew. The 3 Vulture ships approached a Federation base with an army of mobile suits guarding it. "What the. . . so many mobile suits. . . this must be the place" Sala said. "There must be over 50 suits here" replied Toniya. A channel opened from the MS hanger, "GX and Leopard are complete and ready for battle, but Airmaster will take another week or so." Jammil pressed a button to open a line to the rest of the ship ordering the gundams to be deployed. He then opened a line to the other ships telling them to begin the assault now and to follow their plan. The other ships sent out 10 mobile suits each along with Freeden's 2 gundams. Garrod rushed into the GX, placing the G-controller unit into place the gundam powered up and sped out. The battleships fired long range missiles at the enemy suits and the battle began. Alarms rang out as the mobile suits scrambled for combat. 

Inside the base a Federation general stood watching the battle. "They have no idea what they are up against, we don't even need mobile suits anymore." He picked up a phone and pressed the extension for the lab. "Activate the MAN-003 Patulia." Outside, the battle raged on, Leopard fired it's gatling and destroyed 3 suits, then another 4 fell as it fired it's missiles. GX took out 2 with it's beam rifle and another with it's sword as it rushed straight for the base, not even bothering with the mobile suits. He would not allow Tifa to remain here any longer then she had to. As he was about to crash into he base a huge earth quake nearly caused his gundam to tip over. "N..nani?" was all Garrod could mutter as he saw the huge mobile armor Patulia rise into the sky. recognizing what is was Jammil almost jump at the sight of it. Now he knew why they wanted Tifa so badly. "She must be inside it" he thought. 

All the mobile suits stopped and starred in awe at this. . . thing floating there. The suddenly missiles shot out from it and beam fired from cannons mounted to it's hull. The mobile suits scattered but most were struck and destroyed. The gundams managed to swiftly avoid them but couldn't get in any effective attacks. It's armor was very thick and difficult to get through with their weapons, it was also still sunset, without the moon in view GX's cannon would be useless. Garrod wasn't about to let that stop him though he rushed at it with his beam sword but was stopped by a missile warning shot from the Freeden. "Stop the attack, Tifa is inside it" Jammil said to the pilots.

Suddenly Patulia began to change, the long almost submarine looking mobile armor began to split. The front 75% split down the middle and separated to the sides so that it looked like it was opening up. Once fully opened a huge cannon was revealed to be in the center. "Begin" spoke the general. An ominous glow appeared in the cannon and a few seconds later a massive beam shot out so bright it almost blinded everyone. When the light dimmed down everyone was shocked to see they were still alive. The crew of the Freeden rushed to detect where the blast went and noticed a large explosion a few miles away. "Mission successful, a rebel base in the eastern city was destroyed" said one of the general's officers. The general smiled and turned his attention to the remaining Vultures. "Now get rid of those pests."

. . . . . to be continued.

~Akurei_GX

   [1]: http://www.akurei.50megs.com/mecha/index.html



	5. If you believe

**Title:** Human Touch  
**Chapter 5:** If you believe  
**Source:** After War: Gundam X   
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam X or any of it's characters.   
**Brief description:** After 15 years the destructive power of a newtype is revived  
**URL:** go here for pics and info on the characters and Mecha of this story.  
[http://www.akurei.50megs.com/mecha/index.html ][1]  
**Author's notes:** I could really use some help from fellow GX fans out there. I have seen a few scattered episodes throughout the series but I lack detailed info on the cast. If anyone knows of a site I can use to gather info please let me know.

From inside the large mobile armor Tifa struggled to regain control of her thoughts but the influence she was under was just too strong. She could only watch as one mobile suit was destroyed after another. She could feel the pain and suffering of those she had killed, their fear and despair. Not just of the mobile suit pilots, but of those at the unknown base that had been destroyed miles away. The massive weapon seemed to amplify her abilities, she could even sense the fear of her friends, not of their own deaths, but of the thought of having to kill her to save themselves. But through it all a voice kept calling out to her. She couldn't make it out, there was too much in her mind. The computers were running so much through her she could barely maintain her sanity.

After several unsuccessful attempts to contact her telepathically, Jammil fell to the ground, blood dripping from his ears and nose. There was too great of a block for him to communicate. The gundam pilots stood frozen and unsure of what to do. Suddenly GX shot up toward Patulia and dodged the incoming beam shots and missiles that were being launched at it. "What the hell is he doing?" Witz thought. Witz and Roabie began covering Garrod with coverfire as he got closer to the mobile armor, no one had any other ideas so they placed their faith in him. More shots fired from Patulia as the Federation scientists controlling Tifa's mind noticed the incoming gundam. Garrod was quick and dodged many shots but a group caught him on the side and GX's left arm was blown off.

"Tifa!" Garrod called out to her hoping she could somehow hear his voice. He continue to dodge the onslaught until he was finally able to land on top of Patulia. Within it Tifa was nearly loosing her mind, she could see them all and also what happened to Gundam X, the sight of it caused her great pain that somewhat diminished as she could sense that Garrod was all right. Garrod was lost in what to do, he couldn't destroy this thing if it might hurt Tifa, but how much longer could the others survive? 

In the base several engineers and scientists were baffled by a strange turn of events. The mobile armor had a sudden and large decrease in the processing speed of commands. For a brief instant Jammil could sense Tifa's mind calling out for help. Thought it lasted only a moment, he could pinpoint her location. Meanwhile the engineers had increased their system's output to a dangerous level that could kill the pilot, but it seemed the only way to regain control.

Garrod was shaken from his trance-like state of indecision as the wire beam cannons were deployed and targeted him. He dodged two but was struck by three more from behind knocking his shield out of GX's hand. Two more from below sped up and fired at the beam rifle and destroyed it. GX backed off but was completely surrounded by the wire beam cannons, Garrod activated his beam sword and was about to make one last strike on them when beam shots and bullets rained from below. Airmaster and Leopard had used the period of weakness to get close enough to attack. "We'll take these down, go get the girl!" Witz yelled out at Garrod. 

Just as he got the message, he got another from the Freeden with Tifa's location. "Got it!" He shot forward as Airmaster and Leopard lay coverfire. He looked back and saw both gundams were getting in trouble as Patulia's other weapons were coming back online. But he couldn't go back, not yet. He shot forward, ignoring everything that was coming after him. Bullets, beams and missiles targeted the lone gundam but nothing slowed it down. Even after one successful missile hit blew off it's left arm, it still kept going without hesitation. In his mind he could hear her calling to him, she was in such pain he couldn't stand it. Though he himself wasn't a newtype, Garrod knew deep inside, he could just feel that she was in danger and time was running out. Quickly he used his remaining arm and beam sword to cut into the hull frantically trying to get inside.

After penetrating the hull Garrod exited the gundam and entered the control room of Patulia. Looking in the center he saw Tifa being held in some weird tube-like device, he could see blood spilling from her nose and ears and she was convulsing. If he didn't get her out soon she wouldn't survive much more. He picked up a fallen piece of the hull and used it to smash the glass tube that held Tifa. After doing so Patulia starting shutting down and began to fall. Garrod quickly picked up the unconscious girl and carried her out as fast as he could, Outside, the gundams which had now used up all their energy and ammo noticed the mobile armor was now unstable and jumped off to try to get to a safe distance. Jammil immediately ordered the Freeden to back away to avoid being crushed. The others could only watch as Patulia fell toward the base below, with Tifa and Garrod along with it. Garrod had managed to reach the spot he had entered in and GX was still in place. With only seconds remaining he entered the cockpit, still holding Tifa. Placing the G-controller unit back into place the gundam came to life and shot up into the sky as Patulia came crashing down on the base causing a major explosion that completely wiped the base out.

In the aftermath of the explosion, GX landed and as soon as it did, nearly fell apart. The other two gundams weren't any better, but at least it was over. Moments later they were all picked up and the Freeden set a new course to take some cover while they repaired the damaged systems and gundams. With Tifa now safe in the infirmary, everyone could finally take a sigh of relief and relax for a moment. However, now the New Earth Federation would be after them more then ever and it would only be a matter of time before the next battle.

. . . . . to be continued

~Akurei_GX

   [1]: http://www.akurei.50megs.com/mecha/index.html



End file.
